Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Big Lots, Inc. (BIG)

Is Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) a buy, sell, or hold? Prominent investors are betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund bets inched up by 1 recently.

At the moment, there are dozens of metrics investors can use to monitor stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outperform the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG).

What have hedge funds been doing with Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 5% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners had the most valuable position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG), worth close to $132.3 million, accounting for 2.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Scopia Capital, managed by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, which held a $108.8 million position; 3.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, created the biggest position in Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). Balyasny Asset Management had 7.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management also made a $7.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG)?

Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG). These stocks are Tuesday Morning Corporation (NASDAQ:TUES), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR), Fred’s, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRED), Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO), and PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT). This group of stocks are in the discount, variety stores industry and their market caps are closest to BIG’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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